| 69Shelby |
12-17-2020 07:28 PM |
That’s an incredible story and definitely a collector who skipped to a beat of a different drummer. Sometime in the early 2000’s I had bought a Black 1970 SCJ Base Fastback Mustang with 7000 miles. Perfect body and interior. Had been a drag car and I later found it was campaigned under the name “ Crowd Pleaser “. Life happened and regrettably up for sale it went. I had a guy call from Colorado and said he would be down in two days. I agreed and when that fateful day came a thin, lanky older man, curly uncombed hair, and worn out torn jeans pulled up to my home with a red Dodge van and a very worn open car hauler with wood floors. He was a talkative likable fellow, very down to earth and had one or two young boys with hin that he introduced as his sons. Spitting image to his dad they both were torn jeans and all. Not as a fashion statement but worn by hard work it appeared. He stated they had stopped at the big Texas Pate swap meet on his way down and purchased a correct Toploader 4 Speed and correct bell housing for my SCJ Car that I had acquired with no driveline.
I led him to see my SCJ Mustang and his two sons dutifully remained on guard by their well worn van with about 5-6 Red Plastic Fuel cans that caught my eye in the front of the trailer very neatly held down by a thin rope. He looked the car over and under. Maybe 15 minutes and said he’d take it without haggling. I said ok and then he said he needed to have me drive him to my Bank to get his bank to wire funds. Now......all my warning bells and whistles are going off about this time. I told wife to keep an eye on the SCJ and if the boys made any attempt to load the SCJ to call cops and then me. So I’m driving to the bank wondering if this poor soul even realistically had a bank account or if I was about to be swindled by this man I’d just met. We waited in the lobby making small talk. I remember him saying his boys were homeschooled and he had land in rural Colorado where he had a “few” collector cars. No garage. He said the mild mountain weather preserved the cars pretty well. So my BS alarm is blaring at that point and the bank manager calls him in and about 15 minutes later he walked out and my bank lady says all went well. Well.....I still can’t believe this guy actually did go through and paid for the car. I asked to see my balance to see if money was missing instead of deposited. All was there. Sure enough about 50 minutes later his deposit hit my account. I called my bank and asked if this was a Genuine deposit as I was about to release a vehicle and car title pending their reply. She assured me all was good.
Drove back home dumbfounded and somewhat devastated as my beloved SCJ was bought and paid for from what I though was just a looker or tire kicker!
We arrived at my place, his boys fell into their roles to prep trailer to load car and I remember how respectful they were to their father through the process. Not one curse word and each of the 3 appeared to have done this process many times.
Onto the trailer went my one of 5 Black SCJ Base R Code Fatbacks and my heart sank as it came to rest on the spot where they’d strap it down. Three pieces of peeling white paint plywood’s were bolted to the front of the trailer and the sides to ensure rock chips wouldn’t damage the paint or glass on the SCJ.
He then said he would need to fuel up before leaving. I told him a convenience store was two blocks down. He politely smiled and all 3 came together to pull the red plastic fuel cans and top off the beat up old Dodge van. I guess the look on his face must have been to where he felt he needed to explain. He said they would fuel up in larger cities on their trips and thus save 10-12 cents a gallon. Never heard from him again but that black Mustang Fastback in the video sure looks like the car I sold him. That’s my “the one that got away “ story that I still kick myself in the ass about and I do believe I did business with what was unbeknownst to me to be as a connoisseur of RARE Muscle Cars despite his thriftiness and appearance !! Maybe all the penny pinching allowed the man to collect cars most of is will only see from a distance!
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